At Gen Con, ICv2 spoke with Corvus Belli’s Fernando Liste about upcoming releases for its Infinity sci-fi skirmish metal miniatures game, the sudden popularity of the game in the U.S., and the Spanish miniatures company’s history.
 
The Operation:  Icestorm two player battle pack premiered at Gen Con, and had completely sold out by mid-Friday morning.  The box contains 14 miniatures from two different armies (PanOceania and Nomads), a 64-page introductory rules set with five tutorial missions, scenery, dice, cardboard markers, a game mat, templates and a ruler.  The game will release to trade in late September, and has a tentative MSRP of $120.00. 
 
Also planned for fall release is the new 3rd Edition Rulebook (see "'Infinity' 3rd Edition"), which will be released in November or December.  The book will have around 400 pages, divided into two sections: one for history and fiction, one for rules.
 
Liste said that Corvus Belli has free promotional tools, including official tournament packs with promotional miniatures and posters and player demo teams, available to retailers, though stores must request them through their American distributors.  If the distributors do not have them, they can request them from Corvus Belli.   Liste also said he’s not sure where the disconnect between stores, distribution and their company has been happening.  "Many stores and customers complain that they cannot get Infinity easily from distributors, but we have our own manufacturing facilities, we always have stock, we can react to demand very fast, so I’m not sure why they’re not getting the products, because we have them.  There must be something failing in communication between us, the distributors and the shops.  They should know we can send the products very easily."
 
Corvus Belli started in 2001, but for the first five years it focused on manufacturing 15mm miniatures for historical games.  Infinity was developed "in the shadows," Liste said, during off time, until the game premiered in 2006.  "It was very dramatic," Liste said, of the sudden change.  "For the first five years, it was hard to make a living for four people manufacturing historical miniatures.  With Infinity, from the first moment, we were making enough to expand the company to seven or eight people."
 
Liste said the popularity in the U.S. can be attributed to doing a thematic "Infinity Week" a few years ago with popular wargamer website Beasts of War, which introduced the game to a whole new audience.  The company offered a large discount to new players during that promotion.  2014 was Corvus Belli’s third year at Gen Con, though their presence has grown at each successive show.